Fallen Leaves
by TheButterKnife
Summary: After a brutal attack, Naruto finds himself with the ability to read minds. Drafted into ANBU at an early age to protect both him and the village, Naruto must find a way to survive, even when the dark roots of Konoha threaten to drag him down.
1. Chapter 1

It began when he was four and dying. He was out in the shadier districts of town, trying to find a shelter for the night. The paper lanterns glowed faintly in the sky, seemingly far away in the fogginess of the night. The sounds of drunken singing and hollering permeated the air.

Two men, stumbling in the darkness, hands filled with cups of their liquid courage, stepped out into the nearby light of a flickering lantern. Their eyes were unfocused, but they immediately realized that they were not alone –and just who was in the alleyway with them.

"Look," the first sneered, pulling his lips back, spittle flying. "Look who we've _found_!"

The other giggled, peering at their catch with bloodshot eyes. Naruto flinched back, twisting his fingers through the rough material of his rags. The two men took two swaggering steps forwards, and Naruto took two hesitant steps back.

The two men kept advancing, and Naruto kept backing up. With every step, Naruto's heart constricted in fear. His eyes dilated. He tried to run, but his legs were wooden and would not move. Like clockwork, the two men kept advancing, and Naruto kept backing up.

And then his back hit a cold brick wall.

Naruto's spindly arms flew into motion. He whirled around, trying to find a way out. He turned panicked eyes left and right. There was nowhere to go. He turned back around, and there they were. Looming above him.

By the dim light of the moon he could see his terrified reflection off the sharp black blade one of the men held in his hands. The other was cracking his knuckles, a _crick crack_ that made Naruto shudder and realize: he was going to die.

The man with the knife approached, and Naruto pressed himself against the wall. He brought the knife right under Naruto's chin, and Naruto's breaths began to come in short pants. He could almost feel the knife going through his soft throat, warm blood spilling over cold knife as the men laughed all the while.

The man giggled again and leaned forward, so close that Naruto could smell the foulness of his breath. But them he stopped abruptly. A low, guttural sound emerged from the man's throat. "You killed my wife," he hissed, his voice breaking halfway. His words came out choked, and Naruto could hear the sharp rasp of tears in his voice. "And I –I…You'll _pay_ , fox. You'll suffer just like my wife and children did, with their bodies crushed in rubble and their mouths open in a scream of distress. _You'll pay_."

Naruto reared his head back, trying to avoid the blade. But it was too late. His life was forfeit. The man pushed forwards with a cry and swung the blade at Naruto's head. Shouting and the sound of ripping flesh.

His world went dark.

* * *

He woke to the sound of the dull murmurs of the hospital, a white ceiling above him and white sheets below him. He blinked his eyes blearily. Beside him, he could make out the Hokage, who was watching him in silence.

Naruto broke the silence first. "I…uh, really got hurt, huh?" He sank deeper into the sheets uncomfortably.

"Naruto," the Hokage began, then stopped. He looked Naruto in the eyes. "I'm really sorry, Naruto, that we weren't able to stop the assailants before they…ah, _hurt_ you. But I promise it won't happen again." At this the Hokage looked past Naruto and at the window, where he knew the ANBU stationed to protect Naruto were lurking.

 _Thank goodness the ANBU were able to arrive in time…But this does not bode well for the future. What if another incident happens? What if they are unable to reach Naruto in time?_

Naruto looked at the Hokage and squinted. "What do you mean by…ANBU?"

The Hokage started, eyes flickering to Naruto. "Where did you hear that?" he asked sharply. How did Naruto know the name of his special forces? Had he come in contact with them? In the edges of his awareness, he could feel his ANBU stiffening. They were no doubt listening in.

Naruto floundered at the Hokage's tone. "Erm…I felt it? I mean, there was something…In my mind. Or something? And, um, I think they're listening in?"

The Hokage stood up and swept by Naruto. He motioned for Naruto to follow, and Naruto immediately crawled out of the bed, glad to be up and moving again. Naruto glanced worriedly at the window, wondering if these mysterious "ANBU" were still there.

The Hokage led Naruto into his office, where he seated himself with a flourish. He picked up his pipe and sighed. "Naruto," he said, "How many people are in this room?"

Naruto opened his mouth to answer the obvious answer of "two" when he heard something again, the same fleeting sensation that had whispered the word _ANBU_ to him.

 _If he is truly a powerful sensor, then he will know that there are actually six people in this room, which include the four ANBU hidden from sight. But if he doesn't know…How could he have known that there were ANBU listening in to our conversation from before?_

Naruto's ears perked up and opened his mouth to answer triumphantly, "There are six people in this room, which include the four ANBU hidden from sight!"

At the Hokage's stunned look, he grinned. His excitement was palpable. "Was I right? Was I right?"

The Hokage nodded stiffly and sighed, drawing out a brush. "Naruto…You have the gift of a sensor. It allowed you to sense the chakra of nearby ninja. Because you have this increased chakra awareness and given the fact that you were recently attacked…I think you should start the academy early."

Naruto's eyes lit up. After months of hounding the Hokage into letting him into the academy, he finally accepted! All thoughts of the attack dissipated and Naruto bounced on his heels excitedly. "Thank you!"

The Hokage dismissed Naruto and, when he felt the child's chakra disappear completely from the building, mused quietly to himself. Being a chakra sensor, there would be many ninja who would want Naruto on their teams in the future. There weren't many good sensor-nin in the ninja force, and the talent was very rare besides. He would have to get Naruto a private tutor to teach him how to use his ability.

The Hokage let out a puff of smoke and began to write.

* * *

Naruto couldn't believe his luck. He was set to start at the academy in fall, and he was finally going to become a ninja. His feet carried himself to the playground, where he could see many other kids playing on the swings and running around playing ninja.

Naruto watched them for a while, unperturbed by his own loneliness because those children were playing ninja and he was going to become a _real_ ninja. Naruto kept gloating to himself for a while until he realized that there was a dull buzzing at the back of his mind.

He closed his eyes to focus on the sound, but it abruptly disappeared. Naruto opened his eyes in confusion, and the dull buzz returned. He squinted and tried to listen.

 _Wow…look at him, he's so cute! I wonder what type of flowers he likes…_

Naruto frowned. Who was talking to him? Whoever he had heard, they couldn't have been talking _about_ him, because he was quite sure nobody would say that they liked him. He turned his attention back to the playground, and saw two girls who were giggling in the corner.

 _He's so dreamy…I wish I knew –KYAA! DID HE JUST LOOK AT ME!?_

Naruto jumped at the loud sound, worried for a moment that one of the girls was hurt. But the pink haired girl was only blushing, pointing at a dark haired boy on the swings while the blonde haired girl besides her nodded in agreement.

Naruto looked around worriedly if anyone else had heard the cry, but nobody had even looked their way. It seemed as if none of the people at the playground had heard the shrill exclamation. Shaking his head in confusion, Naruto kept watching the two girls, his eyes straying to where the pink haired girl was pointing.

His gaze landed on the black haired boy on the swings and an older boy who was pushing him. The voices in his head changed, and it was only with this change did Naruto realize that the voice he was hearing before was of a young girl, and now he was hearing the voice of a young boy.

 _I hope Brother never leaves me! It's great to finally be able to spend some time with him!_

Before he could ponder longer on this conundrum, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around in fright, ready to bolt, but his assailant quickly retracted their hand from his shoulder.

Before him stood a tall woman who had long purple hair, her lips pursed in annoyance. "I'm Uzuki Yugao," she introduced, "The Hokage asked me to instruct you. I am a sensor ninja, and I've been informed that you also have the makings of one."

Naruto's brows furrowed at the introduction, still wary. So the weird things he was hearing in his mind was a talent that Yugao also had? Did she also hear weird things? He opened his mouth to ask, but paused. What if she was trying to trick him? Instead, he asked: "What's a sensor ninja?"

Yugao replied stiffly, "A sensor ninja can sense the chakra of other ninja. A lesser version of this talent can be honed in all ninja, but a sensor ninja has a particular affinity for the art."

Naruto cocked his head. "What's chakra?"

Yugao sighed.

* * *

Naruto sat on the grass, deep in thought. Yugao had brought him to a different clearing –Training Ground 13 –and had explained to him all about what chakra was and how ninja used it to perform various feats. But Yugao had described chakra as "a warm ball of light," and Naruto was pretty sure that that wasn't what he was sensing.

But Naruto just nodded and listened, because Yugao was the first (bar the Hokage) who had actually sat down and helped him without any malicious intent. It was quite nice.

"Now that I've explained this to you, I want to test the limits of your chakra sensing. I will go and hide in the forest to the right of where we are, and you are to find me. You have an hour." With that, Yugao disappeared and Naruto stared at where she was just a moment ago in shock.

Naruto picked himself up and wandered into the forest, worried. Naruto had never really felt the "warm feeling" that Yugao described as sensing chakra, and he was worried that he wouldn't be able to find Yugao in time.

He tried to listen for the soft whispering that he had heard before, but his mind was disappointingly void of other voices. Naruto thought back to before, when he had been looking at the girls, and realized that to trigger whatever he was hearing, he probably had to be looking at somebody.

With this in mind, he knew that there was no way of finding Yugao, as he could not see her. Even worse, he was going to fail her. He was going to disappoint her.

Naruto abruptly turned on his heel and marched right back out of the forest. Yugao, hidden in the canopy, watched after him in silence. _Perhaps_ , she thought, _the scene at the Hokage's office was a fluke? But no matter. I'll wait a little longer…perhaps he'll surprise me._

Naruto, on the other hand, was confident in his ability. He wandered off randomly, glancing at everyone he passed to scan them. Finally, he found a ninja.

 _Man, this sucks. The new Icha Icha is sold out…_

Naruto walked up to the silver haired man and tugged on his pants. "Um, excuse me, but can you help me? I'm looking for someone…"

The man jumped a little, then turned to face Naruto. "I didn't see you there," he said jovially, though when Naruto listened a bit harder, realized that the man was only faking his surprise, "Do you need anything?"

Naruto bobbed his head and put on the cutest face he could –he stuck out his bottom lip and widened his eyes. "Can you help me find someone?"

The man agreed readily and offered his hand to Naruto. "How can I resist such a cute boy?" The man asked jokingly, but Naruto heard otherwise. There was something about _sensei_ and _son_ and _I wish_ , but it was faint and Naruto didn't give it much thought.

Naruto led the man to Training Grounds 13, where he stopped abruptly and asked, "Can you sense if anyone is in the forest? I think my friend might be hiding in the trees…"

The man's brows furrowed and Naruto stared hard at him.

 _This chakra signature…Uzuki? But why would Naruto…?_

Naruto frowned in annoyance. The voice wasn't giving him anything useful. "Um, mister, can you feel where she is? Like, think _really_ hard about it! I know she's a good hider!"

Naruto grinned. Got it. "Thank you mister!" He cried, and ran off in the direction of the second tree to the left. The silver haired man stared after the boy in confusion. He hadn't said anything about Uzuki's location…

Yugao, seeing that Naruto was running towards the tree she was hiding in, deftly hopped down and nodded at Hatake. It was curious how Naruto had needed his assistance to locate her. If his were truly a chakra sensor, then he wouldn't need any help detecting her.

"Naruto," Yugao started, and the boy looked up at her in excitement. "I need you to tell me exactly what you feel when you try to sense chakra."

Naruto frowned; he had been expecting some praise, but…"When I focus, I can hear a voice," Naruto admitted, "But it works only when I'm looking at someone, I think."

Yugao's lips thinned as her mind worked furiously to decipher what Naruto meant. "Look at me," she ordered. "What do you hear?"

Naruto paused for a moment and answered: "Cats."

Hatake giggled faintly in the background, and Yugao rolled her eyes in annoyance. "And now?"

The answer was immediate. "A knife."

Yugao nodded. "I think I know what you can do, Naruto. I would like you to keep your ability secret for now; I need to talk to the Hokage about this."

Naruto nodded firmly, not intending to betray the trust of someone who treated him fairly. Besides, his ability was really special, wasn't it? It would be cool to have a secret of his own.

Yugao looked up sharply and caught Hatake's eye, silently swearing him to secrecy. He gave a small nod and left. She turned back to Naruto. "Naruto, I want you to relax for the rest of the day. I'll contact you later."

And with that, she disappeared. Naruto watched after her in anticipation. Would she maybe teach her instant disappearing trick to him one day?

* * *

The Hokage sighed as he dismissed Yugao. Her report was very trouble; it seemed that Naruto was not a chakra sensor, but rather had the ability to read minds, similar to the Yamanaka. This made Naruto a prime candidate for the Interrogation Corps, but he did not want Naruto exposed to the things they did there.

The best thing he could offer Naruto now was probably just training, so that Naruto would be able to use his gift and learn how to control it. And, as much as he did not want to think about it, Naruto would be a dangerous weapon in an enemy's hands. He needed to ensure that Naruto would not defect from Konoha.

Considering he had already pulled Yugao out of the ANBU Corps because of a heavy injury that needed time to heal, he might as well assign her as Naruto's mentor. Not to mention they were probably getting along pretty well, if his crystal ball was showing him right.

Now that he thought more on it, he realized that there was a possibility of subterfuge from the inside, mainly in the form of the illegal ROOT Anbu which he had disbanded years earlier, but he knew was still active. He didn't have enough evidence to interrogate Danzo though, so his hands were tied in that manner.

If Naruto were ever to be used against him…Hiruzen didn't think he'd be able to fight back. Letting Naruto roam on the streets was a security risk; who knew who could influence Naruto? His ANBU couldn't watch over Naruto every second, after all. No; there was only one way he could ensure that Naruto was under supervision at all times while also training him for the ninja force.

He would have Naruto join the ANBU Corps.

By doing so, he would be able to keep an eye on him while also allowing him to form bonds with his ANBU, deterring the possibility of him turning traitor. There were also several Yamanaka and Uchiha in the ANBU, who could contribute to Naruto's training…

It was decided, then.

Naruto was going to join ANBU.


	2. Chapter 2

Eight Years Later

Naruto hopped from branch to branch, eyes wary, watching for any movement. When his feet landed on the branches, the leaves barely shook; a testament to his skill.

A voice in his ear crackled to life. "Fox, target at sector B-243. Flank and distract."

He abruptly turned on his heel and began bounding towards the aforementioned location. As he ran, he listened hard, and caught the distinct _taptap_ of footsteps. Following his orders, he quickly ascertained the location of his target, checked his weapons on last time, and leapt.

Steel met steel in a storm of weapons, and Naruto allowed himself to be pushed back to put some distance between him and his enemy. He studied the white mask that his opponent wore, the swirling designs of a Cat printed on it, and tried to find his opponent's eyes.

His opponent, Cat, started making rapid handseals, and Naruto initiated eye contact with her. With a cursory glance into Cat's mind, Naruto heard the thought _Lightning Style: Electric Discharge!_ just moments before the technique was activated. Knowing what his opponent was using, Naruto began his own technique; Earth Style: Mud Wall.

The two techniques were finished at the same time, and a huge wall of dirt thrust up from the earth before Naruto, protecting him from the lightning attack. But instead of the volts Naruto was expecting, his dirt wall exploded from the onslaught of a giant water dragon.

Cursing, Naruto sprang back, narrowly missing the torrent of water that burst through his technique that would've crushed him had he moved too slowly. He realized that Cat was being tricky; she was thinking the opposite technique of what attack she was using next.

Through the spray of water and dirt, Naruto's target appeared from nowhere and engaged him in a deadly taijutsu battle. Naruto knew that he wouldn't be able to win due to his smaller stature and less experience, and tried to rely on his mind-reading to predict his opponent's moves.

 _Left hook; feint! Right hand jab at the abdomen, catch his legs to fell him._

Naruto heard all this and acted accordingly, protecting his stomach and leaping over the wide sweep his opponent executed. But Cat was too skilled; she caught on quickly to Naruto's movements and began thinking about nonsensical things to throw Naruto off.

 _I love cats. Their sleek, glossy fur just seems to draw me in…If I ever retired, I would probably buy lots of cats…_

Naruto scowled and moved quickly to disengage, knowing that there was no way for him to even compete with Cat in taijustu without his mind-reading advantage. At the edge of his senses, he could feel his own team moving in, surrounding the target. Cat also sensed the chakra signatures of the other ANBU, and tried to execute an Earth Style: Tunneling Mole technique, disappearing into the earth.

But it was too late.

Cat burst out of the ground with a curse, small rivulets of flame following her. Naruto grinned; one of his teammates must've channeled the technique into the ground, letting it seek out the hole that Cat had dug.

Seeing that he was surrounded, Cat raised her hands in surrender and retrieved the scroll from within a holster on her left leg. He tossed it into the air, and it was caught by Naruto's squad leader, Hound.

"Good work," Hound praised, pocketing the scroll. He gave a small nod towards Naruto, and Naruto all but beamed back behind his mask. Hound walked over and patted Cat's back in acknowledgement, and promptly dismissed the ANBU in the clearing.

* * *

Naruto sat in his ANBU assigned room, undressing from his ANBU uniform and changing into looser civilian clothing. He kept his weapon holsters on, however, just in case.

 _Knock knock_. Naruto turned at the sound, and, upon realizing his commander Hound, stood up to open the door.

Kakashi stood before him, dressed in the casual green flak jacket that most jounin wore, hand raised in greeting. His other hand was holding the newest copy of Icha Icha, and Naruto rolled his eyes at his commander's antics.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted, "Going to get some ramen. Want to come along? My treat."

Naruto raised his eyebrows, because Kakashi _knew_ his eating habits when it came to ramen. But he didn't give it much thought, and shrugged in agreement.

As they walked on the streets and at down in the comfortable atmosphere of Ichiraku's, Naruto reflected that they must have made an odd pair: Copy-nin Kakashi was well-known, even with civilians. Naruto, however, who had stayed in the ANBU headquarters for most of his life, was a strange presence. Naruto rarely went out without his mask on, and usually he limited his wanderings to only around the Hokage Tower and Ichiraku's Ramen.

"I'd like some miso ramen, please," Kakashi ordered from beside him, and Naruto grinned, placing his own order.

"Beef ramen for me!" He said, and Teuchi laughed.

"Fourteen bowls?" He asked, raising his eyebrows in amusement.

Naruto only laughed, and Teuchi ambled back into the kitchen to prepare their meals.

Kakashi turned to Naruto, eyes full of mirth, before they dimmed a little. "Naruto…" Kakashi sighed. "I'm leaving ANBU."

Naruto pushed away the whispery voice in his mind as he watched Kakashi's mournful face, unwilling to intrude on his commander's privacy and replied, "Why?" From Kakashi's tone, he knew that his commander wasn't kidding. Hound had been Fox's ANBU commander ever since he had joined ANBU, and Naruto wasn't letting him go without a good reason.

"Hokage-sama wants me to take a genin team. The council wanted it; they wanted me to take the team with the Uchiha, as I could help him with his Sharingan. It's not up for debate."

Naruto's throat closed up in fear; Hound was leaving ANBU. Before he let any sound escape, any sign of his internal struggle show, he clamped down on his emotions. "That's great. You're a jounin now. No more dangerous assassination missions." Naruto tried to act excited, to act happy for Kakashi, but his voice fell flat.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi said softly, "If I had any say, I would definitely stay in ANBU. But…" Kakashi held his hands out in a sign of surrender.

Naruto cut his response off, unwilling to let the conversation head in the emotional direction. "Who are you nominating as commander? Who else is on your genin team?"  
Kakashi sensed the change in topic but did not mention it. He hummed in thought and replied, "Nomination? I haven't thought of that yet. As for the genin team…I believe I have a civilian girl and the Inuzuka heir."

"Are you giving them the bell test you used on us?"

Kakashi chuckled, recalling how Naruto had cheated the entire test the first time he used it by simply reading Kakashi's mind. "Probably," he acknowledged, "But I do have to let them pass, so I might have to devise another plan. From what I've read from their files, they don't seem like they'd function well as a team."

"If Sasuke-kun is anything like Itachi-sempai, I can imagine why."

"The file says that Sasuke is a loner, and his main pursuit in life is to kill his brother. But he is the rookie of the year, so I guess he can't be _too_ bad."

Teuchi returned with the food, and Naruto and Kakashi both thanks him before saying a short, "Itadakimasu!" and digging in.

It was then that Naruto felt three pulses on his ANBU tattoo, the sign for _mission_. He stood up and glanced at Kakashi, who knew instantly that Naruto was being recalled to Headquarters –possibly for an interrogation; he was called often because of his ability.

Naruto sighed in annoyance, looking forlornly at his abandoned meal. Without any further delay, he leapt onto the closest rooftop. He took a moment to activate the seal on his neck to release his ANBU gear before starting for the ANBU Headquarters.

"Fox."

A voice stopped him in his tracks, and Naruto paused in his movements to turn to face the speaker. It was supposed to be a secret if you were in ANBU, and it was disconcerting that someone was calling out his codename in the open daylight.

Before him stood a masked figure, wearing a standard issue ANBU mask. But it was blank, and when Naruto tried to peer into the tiny eye slits to attempt to read the other's mind, he heard nothing.

Four staccato pulses in his ANBU tattoo, the confirmation that the other was Konoha ANBU. Naruto's eyes narrowed. He was practically raised in ANBU, but he had never seen a mask like the one the other wore.

But, knowing that the person who faced him must be a Konoha ANBU for he had confirmed it by the four pulses, Naruto decided not to attack immediately and hear what they had to say.

"Hokage-sama has transferred you to the special division for this mission. You are to follow every order given to you by this faction."

The blank-masked ANBU handed over a slip of paper with the Hokage's seal on it and a letter confirming what the man had just said. Seeing no visible forgery on the slip, Naruto nodded and burned the paper with a small fire technique.

The ANBU turned around and started heading towards the opposite direction of the ANBU Headquarters. Naruto hesitated for only a moment before following, wordlessly.

They stopped at the outskirts of the village, still within the walls.

"I will now blindfold you," he said tonelessly, "Do not resist."

Naruto tensed a little when the ANBU cast a genjutsu that blinded him and reduced his chakra sense to a dull murmur. The ANBU's chakra flooded his pathways in his eyes, and Naruto pushed down the urge to flood his pathways right back with his own chakra.

The ANBU placed his hand on Naruto's arm and shunshin'd with Naruto in tow. When the genjustu was released, Naruto found himself in a dark hallway that was dimly lit with flickering candles.

Naruto followed the blank-masked ANBU down several different hallways, but without a good idea of where he was in relation to the entryway, Naruto soon gave up trying to memorize their route. He was never really good at memorizing things anyway.

They stopped in front of a door. "You will enter alone," the ANBU said, "Councilman Danzo is waiting for you inside."

Councilman Danzo? Naruto had met the man before, once, when the Councilman had visited the ANBU Headquarters one day. He had caught a glance of him before he was whisked away by his fellow ANBU members.

Naruto sighed quietly and pushed open the door. He strode in confidently and immediately dropped down in a bow in front of the Councilman.

"At ease…Fox."

Naruto straightened. He was glad that he was wearing his fox mask; Councilman Danzo was staring at him with such a piercing gaze that the edges of Naruto's mouth twitched downwards a little in disconcert.

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. There was something _wrong_ about Councilman Danzo…Something about the Councilman gave Naruto shivers down the back, and he didn't know what it was.

"This is your mission." Councilman Danzo tossed Naruto a scroll with a blood seal on it, and Naruto promptly bit his thumb and unraveled it. "You will travel to a village on the outskirts of Fire Country and assassinate a man named Terumi Hotaru. You will report in no later than six days from now, and ANBU operative Sai will bring you here. Meet with him when you have finished your mission at location D-501, 300. This mission takes priority. Dismissed."

Naruto bowed again and exited through the door, where the blank-masked ANBU cast the genjustu over him and took him by the arm to shunshin him away.

When Naruto landed and the genjustu was released, the other ANBU was already gone. Naruto took out the scroll and scanned it briefly: the mission only stated the target's name and location. Nothing else was given.

 _Well_ , Naruto thought, irritated, _Councilman Danzo probably knows of my "talent" and wants me to use that to gather information. Six days is a short time limit; four days of travel there and back, leaving me two days to gather info and carry out the assassination._

Unwilling to waste precious time, Naruto left immediately for the ANBU Headquarters and packed lightly for the journey, leaving a small note for his team saying that he'd be gone for a few days.

It was only when Naruto was out the village gates and a few miles into the forests bordering the village when he realized what was bothering him the whole time he was with Councilman Danzo.

 _He couldn't read the man's mind._


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto was perched upon a tree bordering Terumi Hotaru's, his target's, house. The man, from his observations, was a civilian. He was looking over some documents, and Naruto focused to listen in to the man's thoughts.

 _The mercenaries were last seen moving south into Fire Country, near this village…If I can somehow contact them and recruit them into the rebellion…_

Naruto's gaze sharpened. Could this be why Councilman Danzo wanted this man assassinated? A rebellion…of what sort? Now that Naruto thought about it, he recalled something about a group in the Hidden Mist that was trying to overthrow the Mizukage.

But the rumor was of a long time ago, and Naruto couldn't think of any rebellion related to Fire Country. If so, then why did Councilman Danzo want this man dead? Naruto shook his head in annoyance. It was not in his place to question orders.

Suddenly, there was a rustle to the right. Naruto froze and held his breath. Had he been found out? His heart was thudding in his chest.

Another rustle.

And then a squirrel burst out of the leaves beside him. Naruto let out a low hiss of annoyance. The squirrel fled the tree, and in the low light the animal seemed like an inky mass of fur. In fact, now that Naruto looked closer, the squirrel looked like it was made out of ink. But the animal quickly bounded out of sight, and Naruto turned back to his target.

In the end, the assassination was easy. Naruto had looked into Terumi's neighbors' minds, and they all thought of Terumi as an antisocial man, and nobody, from what Naruto had heard, was visiting Terumi that night.

So Naruto waited until night fell and Terumi's breathing evened, and climbed through the open window of Terumi's bedroom and slit his throat effortlessly. He watched as the man's life bled away, his thoughts fading away as the life left his body.

Soon there was only silence.

The air, bereft of any whispers of the mind, was a little unsettling. Naruto frowned and leapt away. He needed to report to Councilman Danzo.

"Terumi Hotaru was assassinated at 2300. Target wants to recruit mercenaries travelling south into Fire Country for a rebellion. No other suspicious activity was observed."

Councilman Danzo smiled, thinly and without humor. "Well done, Fox. You've proven yourself worthy of this organization."

Naruto wanted to open his mouth and ask what Councilman Danzo was talking about, because he had never heard of the man heading a separate organization before. But thankfully, he didn't have to ask; Councilman Danzo seemed content to explain.

"Our organization is secret, much like the ANBU. But we operate as a separate division, prioritizing the safety of the village over anything else."

Councilman Danzo stood up and walked forward until he was standing right in front of Naruto.

"Kneel down," he commanded, and Naruto obliged, falling onto his knees.

"Open your mouth." Naruto did.

Councilman Danzo produced a brush from his pockets and dipped it in the ink sitting on his desk. He turned to Naruto.

"Don't move." Naruto didn't.

Councilman Danzo started applying something upon his tongue, a mark of some sort. Naruto thought it was something similar to the ANBU tattoo, a method to identify members of the organization. But that proved wrong when Councilman Danzo finished and put away the brush, only to move back and press his finger upon Naruto's inked tongue.

 _"Seal."_

Naruto's tongue began to burn as he felt Councilman Danzo channel chakra into the marking. He looked down and could see an intricate seal burning itself into his tongue. He didn't study seals, so he couldn't decipher what it meant.

Councilman Danzo stepped back. "The seal I have inked upon your tongue prohibits you from speaking about this organization. You will become physically unable to apart your knowledge. Dismissed, Fox."

Fox stood up and bowed, and left. There was nobody outside waiting for him to escort him out of the base, so Fox assumed that he could leave and go by himself freely, as he now had the seal on his tongue.

But, tired as he was from the six day excursion and assassination, Fox decided to head back to the ANBU Headquarters first to take a nap. He stopped to ask another operative for directions, and, when the ANBU only gave him a flat look and walked past him.

Naruto glared after the ANBU and tried to read his mind, but realized that he could not hear anything from the other. It was disconcerting to hear only silence when he glanced at the other ANBU. But there was nothing he could do. Perhaps the seal blocked his powers or something; that could explain why he couldn't hear anything from Councilman Danzo.

Bereft of instructions, Naruto ended up wandering around the base until he bumped into Sai, the ANBU that had brought him here to report in.

Sai was an interesting person; he had no social skills at all, and Naruto found his attempts to make friends with him hilarious. But Sai had taken pity on him, and given him the directions out of the base with the offhanded comment of, "By the way, you did a pretty good job on the assassination."

So Sai was the one who was watching him. The squirrel that had startled him was probably Sai's fault, too. Then Sai added, "You should work on your sensing skills. I was following you the whole time."

Before Naruto could find a good insult to retort with, Sai slipped away into the inky darkness of the halls. Naruto scowled angrily after Sai and turned around with an indignant huff, and promptly saw himself out of the stupid base.

* * *

"Where were you? I haven't seen you around at all." Kakashi's voice roused Naruto from his slumber, and he groaned unintelligibly.

"I was communing with the forest spirits," Naruto lied shamelessly, turning over and pulling his blanket up over his head.

"You missed the graduation of my cute genin! They passed, by the way," Kakashi added.

Naruto turned to look at Kakashi, and his let out a breath of astonishment.

 _I really wonder what Naruto was up to those past few days…Well, I guess his life is his own's…Whatever. I should really introduce him to my new genin team one day…_

Kakashi's thoughts, which were usually only a dull murmur in his mind, were now much louder; it was almost as if Kakashi's thoughts were the same volume as his normal speaking voice.

"Naruto? Are you okay?"

Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit disoriented."

Kakashi pressed his lips together in thought. "I didn't say that out loud."

Naruto realized that he had read Kakashi's mind and answered his thoughts instead; Kakashi hadn't actually said anything. Well. This was a new development.

"Sorry," Naruto apologized. "It's just…Your thoughts, they're suddenly a lot louder –it's a bit difficult to differentiate between your actual voice and your thoughts now."

Kakashi nodded. "That might become a problem in the future, though. You should inform a Yamanaka so they can look into it; their clan did help scout out your abilities when we first discovered them."

Naruto thought for a moment. This new, amplified hearing…It had happened shortly after Councilman Danzo had inked the seal onto his tongue. What if it was an unintentional side effect? That might also be why he couldn't read the minds of any of the operatives in the base. If so, he couldn't tell the Yamanaka: if one of them could read seals, then it could raise suspicion about the one on his tongue and eventually unearth his participation in Councilman Danzo's organization.

"It's not that big of a problem," Naruto demurred. "I'll be fine."

Kakashi shot him a skeptic look. _Are you sure?_

Naruto rolled his eyes. Kakashi's lips hadn't moved –did the man really think he could fool Naruto? "I know you thought that; you didn't say anything out loud. Look, I can differentiate between your thoughts and voice. And if it gets any worse, I'll talk to a Yamanaka. Promise."

Kakashi still looked like he wanted to say something, but thankfully, he held his tongue. "I'll meet with you later," he said. "It looks like you need some rest."

Naruto nodded in thanks and turned over in his bed. Kakashi left the room, shutting the door with a soft _click_.

Naruto sighed. In truth, there was only a slight difference between Kakashi's thoughts and voice. His thoughts were somewhat muffled, but still sounded very similar to his voice. But, with a little, focus, Naruto believed he would be able to differentiate the two when it came down to it.

Naruto closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. It was going to be difficult to deal with everyone else's minds speaking so loudly.


End file.
